Deer Hunting 2019 near Three Fingered Jack, Oregon

We didn't get our first choice draw this year and instead drew our second choice, High Cascades. We have never hunted this large unit before which starts with an early season hunt then converts to a general season deer tag if unsuccessful. We took a short overnight trip in September during the early season hunt to scout out an area West of Three Fingered Jack. It looked okay, so we decided to come back at the end of September to hunt the opening week of the general season.

   

We setup deer camp at Big Meadows Horse Camp in the Willamette National Forest. It was just two of us (John and I) for most of the week. Our buddy Tyler hunted with us for a day mid-week.

   

It was cold the whole trip with rain, snow, sun, and then rain again. We saw little deer sign, more elk sign, and my first bear (in Oregon anyway). I chased after the bear, but never saw him/her again unfortunately. I had a bear (and cougar) tag in addition to my deer tag.

   

While we had a great trip (and break from 60 hour work weeks), we didn't find any deer. The area was over-grown and hard to hunt. We keep telling ourselves we are going to start hunting the eastern part of the state and maybe one of these days we will wise up.